Caffeine Addiction |
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Caffeine Addiction - Measuring Your Daily Caffeine Intake
Do you suffer from caffeine addiction? How do you know if caffeine is affecting your health and/or your moods and behavior? Stephen Cherniske, author of Caffeine Blues, developed a caffeine addiction quiz for his readers to help them evaluate their daily intake of caffeine and identify symptoms that caffeine could be causing in their bodies. Feel free to print the two-part questionnaire and use it to analyze your own reaction to caffeine.
Of course, our best recommendation to overcome caffeine addiction is to be caffeine-free for 3 months. This is the only way you will truly understand the effects of caffeine in your own body. Keep a journal and note the symptoms that you have before you quit and which ones disappear during the 3 month period of abstinence. Watch for the return of your natural energy supply. You should experience a whole new relationship with yourself, your body and stress as symptoms disappear that you might have assumed were just the way it felt to be you.
In the first column, enter the number of servings, then multiply to get your total caffeine intake from each source. Figures given for coffee and tea are based on a 6 oz. serving. Remember that most coffee mugs or cups hold 12-14 ounces. A "large" coffee cup holds 20 ounces or more, so be sure to calculate accordingly. Amounts of caffeine listed for each type of beverage are averages; variations may occur from product to product.
The amount of caffeine in common medications may surprise you. However, according to the FDA, nearly 1,000 prescription drugs and 2,000 over-the-counter medications contain caffeine—anywhere from 30 to 200 mg per tablet or capsule.
Caffeine Content and Caffeine Amounts
in Coffee, Tea, Green Tea, Matté, Chocolate, Sodas and Over-the-Counter Drugs
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Servings per Day |
Item |
Milligrams Caffeine |
Total |
 |
Coffee
(6 oz. cup)
(A mug holds 12-14 oz.; a large cup holds 20 oz. or more.) |
Drip brewed
Percolated
Instant
Brewed decaf
Instant decaf
|
100 mg. per 6 oz.
120 mg. per 6 oz.
90 mg. per 6 oz.
5 mg. per 6 oz.
3 mg. per 6 oz.
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________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
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Tea
(6 oz. cup)
|
Green
(5 minute steep)
Black
(5 minute steep)
Canned iced tea
|
35 mg. per 6 oz.
70 mg. per 6 oz.
35 mg./12 oz. can
|
________________
________________
________________
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Cocoa
|
Cocoa beverages
|
13 mg. per 6 oz.
|
________________
|
|
Soft Drinks
(12 oz. can)
|
Leading colas
(diet and reg.)
Mountain Dew
Josta (PepsiCo)
Surge (Coca-Cola)
Jolt cola
|
45 mg.
54 mg.
58 mg.
51 mg.
72 mg.
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________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
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Medications
(per tablet)
|
Anacin
Dristan
Dexatrim
Excedrin
Midol
No-Doz (reg.)
Vivarin
Vanquish
|
32 mg.
16 mg.
200 mg.
65 mg.
32 mg.
100 mg.
200 mg.
33 mg.
|
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
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|
Chocolate *
|
Milk chocolate
Baking chocolate
Small candy bar
|
6 mg. per oz.
35 mg. per oz.
25 mg. per bar
|
________________
________________
________________
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Total Daily Caffeine Intake >>
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________________
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Your Caffeine Quotient
"Caffeinism" is a state of chronic toxicity resulting from excess caffeine consumption. Caffeinism usually combines physical addiction with a wide range of debilitating effects—most notably anxiety, irritability, mood swings, sleep disturbance, depression and fatigue. Use your “Total Daily Caffeine Intake” from the previous page to determine if you are a victim of caffeinism.
- If your caffeine quotient is less than 100 mg per day, it is highly unlikely that you are a caffeine addict.
- If your total is between 100 and 300 mg per day, you’re in the "danger zone." Disruption of sleep patterns begins at this level, and certain heart disease risk factors may be increased.
- If your total is 300 to 600 mg per day, you are undoubtedly experiencing some degree of mental and physical addiction to caffeine. Research shows an almost 200% increase of risk for ulcers and fibrocystic disease at this level.
- Intake of 600 to 900 mg per day indicates almost certain addiction. At this level, your mood and energy levels are severely affected. Research suggests that your risk of heart attack may be twice that of non-caffeine users. If you are a premenopausal woman, your chance of maintaining optimal iron levels is slim. Click here for an easy to follow two week plan to quit caffeine.
- At 900 mg or more per day, you're a coffee addict, hook, line and sinker. At this level of dependency, all heart disease risk factors are significantly increased, as are the risks for stroke, psychological disorders and gastrointestinal disease. You may need medical help to kick the habit. Click here to learn about 'Kicking the Habit'
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"Although infrequently diagnosed, caffeinism is thought to afflict as many as one person in ten of the population."
Jack E. James and Keryn P. Stirling. Caffeine: A summary of some of the known and suspected deleterious effects of habitual use. British Journal of Addiction 1983; 78:251-258.
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